Ballard

I'm happy the City Council has finally recognized the problem with unregulated condo conversions ("Council: All displaced renters must be told of aid," Oct, 7).

It's too bad that the council has only belatedly started to act on this issue, after a slew of conversions have already evicted hundreds of renters, many without without due process, and pushed the vacancy rate so low that it's almost impossible to find affordable housing in the city.

What a difference a few blocks make. While downtown Ballard is experiencing furious growth and development, nearby Phinney Ridge is hoping to remain just a quiet backwater with none of those awful condos.

The views of the area were made clear during a recent "Celebrate the Spirit of 65th" event chronicled on Page One by writer Daytona Strong.

"When you go downtown Ballard you kinda know what you're getting - there's a bunch of stuff there," says a Phinney Ridge store owner, "So here, it's just kinda more random, you know, hair salon, bar, tattoo parlor, shoe shop.

Beavers have strong season

By Dean Wong

The 2007 Ballard Beavers golf team is the strongest in years and has already won more matches than last season.

The team is lead by new Head Coach Casey McMullin, a professional instructor at the Interbay Golf Course.

McMullin is a 1984 graduate of Ballard High and has been involved in the game for 27 years.

"It has been a lot of fun. They are playing better team wise than in the past," said McMullin.

To recognize the effect of condominium conversions on displaced renters, the city council unanimously passed an ordinance last week that penalizes developers and property owners who fail to notify eligible renters of tenant relocation assistance.

Tenants who earn at least 80 percent of median income are supposed to receive notice they are due $500 in assistance and the new ordinance just "puts teeth into that requirement," said Tom Rasmussen, chair of the council's housing committee and sponsor of the bill.

Though it is state law that developers converting rental uni

Management of the Ballard Junior Football League said they will go as far as to sue the city of Seattle if a ruling that places time restrictions on their use of the Loyal Heights Playfield is not reversed.

League president Glen Quinton and vice president Marshall Airey are challenging a decision from the city's hearing examiner, Ann Watanabe, which requires an hour between football games scheduled at the playfield to reduce traffic impact on the residential neighborhood.

"If this is about parking, then fix the parking," said Quinton. "We want to fight it.

The Ballard Starbucks is an okay sort of place to go, however, the employees leave a lot to be desired.

Go in anytime and ask for grounds for your garden. Easier to have Tully's bag some up for you than those folks. They will take your name and phone number, promise the sun and the moon to have them ready for you next day. Go in next day and guess what. No grounds for your garden. Oh, I'm sorry they seem to draw flies and we don't like to bag them for that reason.

Good grief, Charlie Brown, every other Starbucks except for those in a Safeway store.

Ballard will not gain anything, in my opinion, from reelecting Jean Godden to the Seattle City Council.

Seattle public officials love to spend a lot of time and money "getting the pulse of public opinion, but sometimes the gap between the "show" and the "tell" is more like a yawning chasm.

The only sun that shined in Ballard Commons Park Saturday at the fourth annual Sustainable Ballard Fest weekend was this fold-out sculpture, constructed by Port Townsend artists headed by Thaddeus Jurczynski, center. Left is Eddie Griffiths of Wallingford. Right is Karen Starling, of Port Townsend. The sun sculpture opens to reveal a depiction of a sustainable eco-village. It was commissioned by the political organization, the Bakbone Campaign.